JPH07265546A - Audio-visual device or tv-game machine for several participants - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To connect a data processing device and a plurality of key-pads, interactively with each other. CONSTITUTION:A message display part 18 for displaying a message which a data processing device 12 delivers to each of participants in response to his selection or determination in addition to a key input part 17, is provided in each of a plurality of key-pads, is provided in each of a plurality of key-pads connected in parallel to the data processing device 12. Thereby, the key pads 15 and the data processing device 12 can be interactively connected together, a data space created by the consensuses of the participants can be advanced into an active data selection field supported by individual data handling, and as well data can be processed over several kinds including games and education with the use of various software suitable for interactive data processing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-participation type audiovisual device and a multi-participation type video game machine in which a large number of people can participate simultaneously while interacting with an information processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a video game machine called a PC engine or NES, a game machine body is connected to a display such as a television receiver, and usually two players use a keypad cable-connected to the game machine body. You can enjoy the game. However, some games can be enjoyed by three or more people, and such games are
An adapter for expanding the number of games called multi-tap was connected to the game console and connected in parallel to the multi-tap.
Five players can simultaneously participate in the game using one keypad.

The conventional keypad 1 shown in FIG. 6 has various keys and switches as operation input means, and the player can take full advantage of these operation input means to participate in a battle game or a role-playing game. You can That is, for example, by operating the cross key 2, the character can be moved up, down, left, and right on the display screen, and by operating the two trigger button keys 3 and 4, a bullet can be fired from a gun or an airplane You can drop bombs from etc. Further, in the gun firing mode and the bomb dropping mode, high-speed continuous shooting (H), low-speed continuous shooting (L), and
It is possible to switch to one of three stages of single injection (OFF), and by operating the select button 7 and the run button 8, an appropriate aspect is selected from among the many aspects that make up the game. Is able to.

[0004]

The keypad 1 used in the conventional video game machine is an operation input terminal for inputting operation input information to the game machine body, and is not limited to a game to be enjoyed alone. Even in a multi-player game in which players play against each other, it has conventionally been sufficient to display only information common to all players on the screen. However, as the content of the game becomes more complicated, whether or not to present individual information desired by each player such as the score of each player or the restrictions imposed on the player during the game greatly influences the flow of the game. However, even though such a tendency is becoming more prominent, at present, there is almost no screen margin for displaying individual information that affects the whereabouts of the game, and there is no suitable method. As a fate of the conventional keypad 1 that is connected to the main body only through a one-way communication path, there is a problem that it is difficult to expect a heated game development.

Further, although the conventional video game machine is named as a game machine, it is possible to install software other than game software, for example, educational or learning software, and a general personal computer. It is not an exaggeration to say that it has the same level of development potential as the other. For example, it is possible to apply a conventional video game machine to a collective television education system and bring together dozens or more people in a group to conduct education in a question format. In that case,
Not only does the participant display their questions in a binary or multiple choice format on a large display that all attendees gaze at, and each participant responds using the keypad assigned to them, as well as all participants For the purpose of uniformly raising the level of the question, it is possible to adopt a method in which hints are stepwise dispensed until everyone gets a correct answer, but in such a case, all respondents will be notified until the correct answer is announced. Since I can not understand whether my answer is correct, for example, I am confused by the hints that are given one after another, and I can not say that there are no participants who input a wrong answer while getting a correct answer, and everyone is correct. It took too much time to get to, so there was a problem that the educational effect was limited.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a storage device storing software that allows a plurality of people to participate and proceed, and information according to the software stored in the storage device. An information processing device that performs processing, an image display device that is connected to the information processing device and displays the contents of the information processing as an image, and an information processing device that is connected in parallel to the information processing device and is assigned to each of the participants. A key input unit for inputting selections or decisions of individual participants related to processing through key operation and a message display for displaying a message sent to each participant by the information processing device in response to the individual selections or decisions of the individual participants. And a plurality of keypads having parts.

The present invention further comprises a multiplexer for switching the transmission direction so that the message transmitted from the information processing device is downlink data and the key input is uplink data.
A register for holding data transmitted and received through the multiplexer; and a pattern generator supplied with the message held in the register and generating an image pattern showing characters or symbols corresponding to the message. It is characterized by being composed of a keypad.

Furthermore, the present invention presents a multi-branch selection type problem to the participants, judges whether the answers answered by the participants via the keypad are correct or not, and the answers of all the participants are within a specified time. When the correct answer is reached, or when an incorrect answer is included even if the specified time is reached, the correct answer is displayed and the information processing apparatus shifts to the next question.

The present invention is also characterized in that a multiplayer video game machine is constructed by composing the information processing apparatus with a video game machine that operates with game software.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the multi-user audiovisual device of the present invention, FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a plan view and a circuit configuration diagram of the keypad shown in FIG. 1, respectively, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

The multi-user audiovisual device 11 shown in FIG.
Is a storage device 1 such as a CD-ROM that stores software such as game software and educational software, centering on an information processing device 12 equipped with a CPU (not shown).
3, or an image display device 14 such as a television receiver for displaying information processing contents on the screen, and a plurality of keypads 15 as operation input means are connected. The keypad 15 shown in the embodiment has an appearance similar to that of the conventional keypad 1 for a video game machine, as shown in FIG. There is a unique feature in the connection possible. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the keypads 15 has a key input unit 17 for inputting a selection or a decision of each participant related to the information processing through a key operation, and an information processing device 1.
2 includes a message display unit 18 that displays a message to be sent to each participant in response to the selection or determination of each participant, and is assigned to each participant and connected in parallel to the information processing device 12.

The key input section 17 of the keypad 15 includes a cross key 20, a trigger button key 21, a shooting frequency changeover switch 22, a clock cycle changeover switch 23, a mode selection button 24, a selection button 25, a run button 26, etc. Consists of multiple key aggregates. In addition, cross key 2
0 is a key for moving the character up, down, left and right on the screen of the image display device 14, and a trigger button key 21 is a key for firing a bullet from a gun or dropping a bomb from an airplane or the like. Also, in a multi-user television education system, etc., it can be used to specify an answer number for a multi-branch selection type question. Shooting frequency selector switch 2
Reference numeral 2 is a switch for switching the firing mode of the gun and the dropping mode of the bomb between two stages of continuous shooting and single shooting, and the clock cycle changeover switch 23 is a switch for switching the cycle of the sampling clock into high and low. .
The mode selection button 24 is the AB2 prepared by the game software.
Select button 2 which is a button for selecting the street mode
The 5 and the run button 26 are buttons used when selecting an appropriate aspect from the many aspects that make up the game.

The message display section 18 of the keypad 15
Is a liquid crystal display 27 arranged at the most visible position on the upper surface of the central portion of the pad main body, and the liquid crystal display 2
And a pattern generator 2 for sending an image pattern to the liquid crystal drive circuit 28.
It is composed of 9 etc. The liquid crystal display 27 is a 7-segment display element 2 in which 7 segments are arranged in an 8 shape.
Four sets of 7a are arranged, and four alphabetic characters from A to F or four digits from 0 to 9 can be displayed. Further, the pattern generator 29
In accordance with a message sent from the information processing device 12 as downlink data, an alphanumeric character pattern required for display by the 7-segment display element 27a is generated and sent to the liquid crystal drive circuit 28.

By the way, from the information processing device 12, in addition to the message data (downstream data), a direction control signal for controlling ups and downs of data and a clock signal necessary for the operation of the keypad 15 are supplied. However, in the embodiment, since the method of performing the bidirectional data communication by the serial transfer method in which the information processing device 12 and the keypad 15 are connected by only one data line is adopted, the input / output interface in the keypad 15 is adopted. As such, there is provided a multiplexer 30 which switches up and down of data in a time division manner by a direction control signal. The multiplexer 30 has a gate circuit 30u provided on the upstream data line and a gate circuit 30d provided on the downstream data line. The pair of gate circuits 3
Gates 0u and 30d are controlled to open / close in reverse operation by a direction control signal sent from the information processing device 12.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a 28-stage shift register for holding upstream data or downstream data, which sends a 12-bit key input provided by the key input unit 17 to the gate circuit 30u as upstream data, while the gate circuit 30
The 28-bit message data given from the game machine body 10 via d is held as downlink data. Since this shift register 31 is shared by the upstream data and the downstream data, it is necessary to move the downstream data to another place before holding the upstream data. Therefore, the holding register for holding the transfer of the downstream data. 32 is connected. Further, a pattern generator 29 is connected to the holding register 32, and the downlink data has a pattern (alphabetic symbols or numbers) for visually displaying individual information here.
Is converted to.

By the way, when the direction control signal output from the information processing device 12 is at a high level, the gate circuit 30u for upstream data has its gate open, and the gate circuit 30d for downstream data has its gate closed. ing. At this time, in the key input information input from the key input unit 17, the same number of 12 bits as the number of input terminals is synchronized with the clock signal from the information processing device 12 in the shift register 31.
Are loaded in parallel. Next, by the clock signal following the clock signal to which the load timing is given, the shift register 31 is sequentially shifted bit by bit and sent to the gate circuit 30u. Therefore, the 12-bit key input information is transferred to the information processing device 12 via the gate circuit 30u as a serial data in order from the first bit. In this way, when transmission of all the key input information for 12 bits is completed, the information processing device 12 switches the direction control signal and inverts its polarity to the low level. as a result,
In the multiplexer 30, a gate circuit 30d opens the gate instead of the gate circuit 30u. Therefore, immediately after switching the direction control signal, the information processing device 12 transmits 28-bit message data corresponding to the keypad 15 as downlink data.

Downstream data is data for displaying four alphabetic symbols or four-digit numbers by the 7-segment display element 27a which constitutes the liquid crystal display 27, and is stored in the multiplexer 30 whose gate is opened by the direction control signal. The bits are sequentially stored in the shift register 31 bit by bit via the gate circuit 30d. This storage operation is
It is performed by the shift operation synchronized with the clock signal.
2 in the shift register 31 by the eighth clock signal
Eight bits of downlink data are held. However, the 29th clock signal is used as a load signal in the shift register 3
Since it is supplied to 1, the 28-bit down data stored in the shift register 31 is transferred to the holding register 32 all at once, and the shift register 31 becomes empty.

The pattern generator 29 connected to the holding register 32 divides the 28-bit down data into 7-bit data and generates a total of 4 alphanumeric character patterns. In this way, the alphanumeric character pattern generated by the pattern generator 29 is supplied to the liquid crystal drive circuit 28 and displayed on the liquid crystal display 27 as a four-digit number or an alphabetic symbol of A to F.
That is, the liquid crystal display 27 displays a four-digit number to indicate the personal score of the player who is playing the game using the keypad 15 according to the game software, or the remaining life allowed to participate in the game. It is possible to develop a thrilling game that is rich in wit and strategy, which cannot be achieved by the conventional uniform screen sharing type game method.

Also, the multi-user audiovisual device 11 described above.
In addition to the video game, can also be applied to a collective television education system in which, for example, dozens or more people are gathered together to provide education. This kind of collective television education system displays a question of two-choice type or multi-choice type on a large display that everyone watches, and each participant answers using their own keypad 15. It is common.

In the collective television education system shown in FIG. 4, first, in step (101), the explanation of the task given to the participant is displayed on the screen of the image display device 14. Next, in step (102), the multiple-choice question of the first question is displayed on the screen, and in the following step (103),
Display options and ask for answers by numbers. At this time,
Each participant uses the keypad 15 to select the trigger button key 21 corresponding to the answer number. The answer number key-selected in this way is used as the upstream data by the shift register 31.
Is sent into the information processing device 12 via the multiplexer 30.

The information processing apparatus 12 that has requested the presentation of the answer is
In step (104), the answers from each keypad 15 are read for all the participants. The information processing device 12 that has read the answer compares the answer with the correct answer, and if the answer matches the correct answer, in step (106), sends a message for displaying the correct answer, that is, “1111”. On the other hand, in step (107), the message "0000" for displaying the wrong answer is issued to the keypad 15 that gives the wrong answer instead of the correct answer.

Thus, until the correctness display on the keypad 15 of all the participants is completed, the judgment step (10
In step (109) following step 8), the keypad 15 whose display is not completed is selected, and step (10)
The step of returning to 5) is repeated. Then, when it is determined in step (108) that the display on all the keypads 15 is completed, the determination step (110)
Move to. In the judgment step (110), it is judged whether or not all the keypads 15 have given the correct answer, and if all the participants give the correct answer, it means that the purpose of the question has been achieved, so the step (119). After jumping to and displaying the correct answer number on the screen, continue to the next step (120)
Move on to the next problem.

On the other hand, in the judgment step (110),
When it is found that even some of the participants' answers were incorrect, the number of repetitions is set to 1 in the following step (111).
Based on the fact that the first iteration is entered here, the answer is read again for the keypad 15 that was an incorrect answer in the first answer presentation. In other words, as a result of the participants reconsidering based on hints issued from the questioner side in a timely manner, the operation to check whether there is a change in the answer between the reading of the first answer and the reading of the current answer is started. . Specifically, the determination step (11
In 3), the answer of the keypad 15 that did not answer correctly the previous time is determined again whether it is the correct answer. Then, in step (114), the message "1111" for displaying the correct answer is sent to the keypad 15 which has given the correct answer, and the keypad 15 which still gives the incorrect answer instead of the correct answer. , In step (115), a message “0000” is displayed for displaying an incorrect answer.

In this way, the judgment step (11) is performed until the correctness display on the keypad 15 of all the participants is completed.
In step (117) following 6), the keypad 15 whose display has not been completed is selected, and step (11)
The step of returning to 3) is repeated. Then, when it is determined in step (116) that the display on all the keypads 15 is completed, the determination step (118)
Move to.

In step (118), it is judged whether or not the number of repetitions matches a preset number of times N, and if not, the process returns to step (111),
After adding 1 to the number of repetitions, step (112)
Repeat the following. However, when it is determined in the determination step (118) that the number of repetitions matches the preset number of times N, that is, that the specified time has arrived,
It is judged that the continuation of further questions is meaningless, the correct answer is displayed as a number in the following step (119), and the process returns to step (101) via step (120).

As described above, in the multi-person television education system, when the participants are gathered together to display a multi-branch selection type question and ask for an answer, for example, a hint is given until all the correct answers are obtained. Even if you make a small amount, the message that the answer is correct will be sent to the respondent who got the correct answer on the spot, so you will not be confused by the hint in the middle and make a wrong answer from the middle. Can bring about a sufficient educational effect in a short time. That is, in the multi-user audiovisual device 11, in addition to the key input unit 17, the information processing apparatus 12 responds to each participant's selection or determination in each of the plurality of keypads 15 connected in parallel to the information processing apparatus 12. By providing the message display unit 18 for displaying a message to be sent to each participant, the keypad 15 and the information processing device 12 can be connected in a two-way communication relationship, and interactive information processing is possible. Become.

Further, in the above embodiment, the liquid crystal display 21 for visually displaying characters or symbols is used as the message display section 18, but instead of the liquid crystal display 21,
For example, it is possible to use a lamp in which several lamps are turned on or off depending on the content of the downlink data. Further, the visual display target is not limited to alphabetical symbols and numbers, but can be expanded to kana characters, kanji, or figures, and in that case, “YES”, “NO” or “for correct and incorrect answers” It is also possible to display a message such as "correct" or "wrong".

Further, in the above embodiment, the information processing device 12
Although the message transmitted by is displayed on each keypad 15 as a character or a symbol, a detachable earphone type speaker 36 can be connected as a voice output device like the keypad 35 shown in FIG. In this case, an audio signal generator, a DA converter, or the like is connected to the holding register 32 in parallel with the pattern generator 29, and the earphone type speaker 3 is connected via an amplifier circuit (not shown).
It is preferable to output the voice information to 6. Since the earphone type speaker 36 can provide a message only to the wearer individually, there is an advantage that the contents of the message can be kept secret from a third party, but the voice output device is not limited to the earphone type speaker 36, and the key output is not limited to the key. It may be a normal speaker embedded on the surface of the pad 15.

[0029]

As described above, according to the multi-user audiovisual device, the information processing device is provided outside the key input unit for each of the plurality of keypads connected in parallel to the information processing device. Since a message display unit for displaying a message to be sent to each participant in response to the selection or determination of is provided, it is possible to connect the keypad and the information processing device in a bidirectional communication relationship. It is possible to evolve the information space formed by consensus into an active information selection field supported by each person's precise information grasp, and at the same time, to use various software suitable for interactive information processing. With this, it is possible to achieve an excellent effect that a wide range of information processing can be performed across genres such as games and education.

Also, since the multiplexer switches the transmission direction by using the message sent from the information processing device as the down data and the key input through the key input means as the up data, the information processing device and the keypad are set to the minimum data line. The message transmitted from the information processing device to the keypad can be stored in a register and then converted into a character or symbol pattern by a pattern generator for visual recognition. Since the information is displayed, it is possible to reduce the transmission load on the information processing apparatus, and it is possible to accurately transmit a necessary and sufficient message to each keypad.

Further, since the message display section generates the alphanumeric character pattern in response to the message, the alphabet symbols from A to F or the numbers from 0 to 9 or a message display combining them are displayed. It is possible, and by constructing the display unit with a liquid crystal display in which 7-segment display elements are arranged adjacent to each other, an alphanumeric character pattern A
It is possible to accurately display the alphabet symbols up to F, the numbers 0 to 9 or a message including them in combination.

Further, since the message display section is provided with a voice output device for outputting a voice message, the message can be transmitted from the ear by a normal speaker that does not specify the listener, or by an earphone type speaker to the individual participants. The message is hidden to a third party, and the message can be transmitted through hearing while protecting personal information.

Further, in the multi-participatory audiovisual apparatus of the present invention, the information processing apparatus presents the participant with a multi-branch selection type problem, and the participant makes a right / wrong judgment of the answer returned via the keypad. When the answer of the participant of the question reaches the correct answer within the specified time, the correct answer is displayed on the spot if the answer is correct even if the specified time is reached, and the structure moves to the next question. , For example, when gathering a large number of people in one place and displaying a multi-choice selection question and asking for an answer, for example, even if the hints are stepped out until all the correct answers are obtained, the answer that got the correct answer Since the message that the correct answer is given to the person on the spot, you will not be confused by the hint in the middle and you will not get an incorrect answer from the middle, so you can use the limited time effectively and have an excellent educational effect. Has the effect of being able to name

The multi-player video game machine of the present invention is not a general-purpose computer system, but a game machine main body intended for game processing, such as a device developed universally for game processing. It is also possible to replace the device, in which case the message sent to each participant in response to each participant's individual selection or decision by the game main body is displayed on the message display part of each keypad, so that, for example, a plurality of When playing a multi-player game in which other players compete against each other, by displaying individual scores for each player or displaying the remaining lifespan or the like allowed to participate in the game, a conventional uniform screen sharing type game method It has an excellent effect such as a thrilling game development that is rich in wit and strategy, which could not be achieved by.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a multi-user audiovisual device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the keypad shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a circuit configuration diagram of the keypad shown in FIG.

4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a modification of the keypad shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional keypad.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 multi-user audiovisual device 12 information processing device 13 storage device 14 image display device 15, 35 keypad

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A storage device that stores software that allows a plurality of people to participate and progress, an information processing device that performs information processing according to the software stored in the storage device, and the information processing device is connected to the information processing device. An image display device for displaying the contents of information processing and an image display device which are connected in parallel to the information processing device and are assigned to each of the participants, and each of the participants related to the information processing inputs a selection or decision of each participant through a key operation. A key input section and a plurality of keypads each having a message display section for displaying a message to be sent to each participant in response to a selection or determination of each participant by the information processing apparatus are provided. Participatory audiovisual device. 2. A multiplexer that switches the transmission direction so that the message transmitted from the information processing device is downlink data and the key input is uplink data, a register that holds data transmitted and received through the multiplexer, and the register. 2. The keypad according to claim 1, further comprising: a pattern generator which is supplied with the message held in the memory, and which includes a pattern generator for generating an image pattern showing characters or symbols corresponding to the message. Participatory audiovisual device. 3. The multi-user audiovisual device according to claim 2, wherein the multi-user audiovisual device comprises the pattern generator that generates an alphanumeric character pattern corresponding to the message. 4. The message display unit having one or two or more 7-segment display elements for displaying characters or symbols by seven segments arranged in a figure eight shape. The described multi-user audiovisual device. 5. The multi-participatory audiovisual device according to claim 1, wherein the message display unit includes a voice output device that outputs the message by voice. 6. The participant is presented with a multi-branch selection type problem, and the participant makes a right / wrong judgment of an answer returned via a keypad,
If the answers of all the participants reach the correct answer within the stipulated time, or if the erroneous answer is included even if the stipulated time is reached, the correct answer is displayed and the information processing device shifts to the next question. The multi-user audiovisual device according to claim 1, wherein 7. A storage device that stores game software in which a plurality of people participate and compete, a game machine main body that performs game processing according to the game software stored in the storage device, and a game machine main body connected to the game machine main body. , An image display device displaying an image of the contents of the game process and a main body of the game machine connected in parallel and assigned to each of the participants, and selecting or deciding each participant associated with the game process through a key operation. A plurality of keypads having a key input unit for inputting and a message display unit for displaying a message sent to each participant by the game machine main body in response to each participant's individual selection or decision; A multiplayer video game machine that can be used.